Western Conference notebook

Wednesday’s 5-3 loss to San Antonio dropped the Wolves to 0-3-1-0 in their last four games, marking their longest winless skid since a four-game skid from March 15-21, 2008… The Wolves have not gone winless in more than four in a row since losing five straight from Jan. 6-17, 2007… AHL All-Star Joe Motzko is without a point in two straight games since scoring a goal in seven in a row (7-2-9)… Jordan LaVallee shows three goals in his last two contests (3-0-3)… Chicago visits Rockford on Friday before hosting Peoria and Houston to close the weekend.

Grand Rapids has gone 9-1-1-0 in its last 11 games to vault into first place in the entire Western Conference at 22-8-4-3 (51 points) overall… This marks the first time since 2006 that the Griffins owned first place in the North Division on Jan. 1… With six shutouts through 36 games, Grand Rapids is already more than halfway to the franchise record of 10 set during the 2003-04 campaign… Jamie Tardif set a team record when he scored just eight seconds into the Griffins’ eventual 3-1 win at Peoria on Dec. 30… Grand Rapids hosts Philadelphia for a pair of games this weekend.

Goaltender Loic Lacasse made his AHL debut on Friday against Syracuse and made 21 saves in Hamilton’s 4-3 victory… Olivier Latendresse recorded his first goal as a Bulldog in Saturday’s 3-2 loss to Iowa… Rookie David Desharnais is on a six-game scoring streak (3-4-7) and has a point in seven of his last eight tilts (5-4-9)… Yanick Lehoux (1-2-3) and rookie Thomas Beauregard (2-1-3) each show three points over the last three games… Hamilton plays a home-and-home against Lake Erie before visiting Rochester on Sunday.

For the second time in a seven-game span, Houston rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the final three minutes of overtime to force overtime on Wednesday at Bridgeport, eventually dropping a 4-3 decision… The Aeros also accomplished the feat on Dec. 28 at Peoria and turned that into a 4-3 shootout victory… Houston is now 0-2-0-2 in its last four outings since opening its eight-game road trip with a 2-1 win at Worcester on Dec. 31… Marco Rosa has registered a point in three of his last four games (2-2-4)… The Aeros visit Hershey, Quad City, and Chicago in a three-day span this weekend to conclude their trip.

Iowa concluded its six-game road swing at 3-2-1-0 and will open a six-game homestand with a pair of weekend tilts against Manitoba… Rookie Matt Beleskey has netted the game-winning goal in each of the Chops’ last two games and shows 15 points (6-9-15) in 18 games for the season… Defenseman Brian Salcido shows three points (1-2-3) over his last two games… Iowa is the only remaining AHL team without a regulation loss when it scores the game’s first goal (15-0-1-1).

Lake Erie has combined for six goals in its three games since scoring six times in a 6-2 win at Houston on Dec. 30… The Monsters split their two-game home set against Syracuse, most recently a 3-1 loss on Tuesday… Goaltender Jason Bacashihua snapped a personal four-game winless skid (0-2-2) by making 29 saves in Lake Erie’s 3-2 overtime win over the Crunch on Saturday… The Monsters play a home-and-home series with Hamilton this weekend before hosting Philadelphia on Sunday.

Defenseman Nolan Baumgartner netted a goal in each game of Manitoba’s two-game set against Hartford this week, including the overtime winner to give the Moose a 3-2 victory on Wednesday… AHL All-Star Jason Krog is riding a six-game scoring streak (1-7-8) and leads the Moose with 35 points (9-26-35) in 31 games for the season… Guillaume Desbiens had four points (2-2-4) in the two games against the Wolf Pack and has found the scoresheet in four straight overall (3-3-6)… The Moose hit the road this weekend for a pair of games against Iowa and one at Peoria.

Milwaukee is currently on an eight-game points streak (7-0-1-0) that has allowed it to open a six-point lead atop the West Division… The Admirals show a 13-2-1-0 record since the beginning of December… Cal O’Reilly has a three-game scoring streak (1-3-4), and Mike Santorelli shows a point in five of his last six contests (3-6-9)… Jed Ortmeyer has registered 13 points (7-6-13) and a plus-9 rating in 16 games this season… The Admirals bring a 10-game home winning streak into Thursday’s tilt against Toronto before they hit the road for their next five contests.

Peoria is just 1-5-0-1 in seven games since posting a three-game winning streak from Dec. 20-26… The Rivermen have totaled just 10 goals in their last seven outings… Trent Whitfield scored all three goals to record his first career hat trick in Peoria’s 3-1 win over San Antonio on Friday… Jeff Cowan broke a 13-game drought with a goal in the Rivermen’s 3-1 loss to Iowa on Wednesday… Peoria has had 17 of its last 18 games decided by either one- or two-goal margins… Peoria has Friday off before visiting Chicago on Saturday and hosting Manitoba on Sunday.

Quad City’s 4-3 loss to San Antonio on Saturday snapped its points streak at four games (3-0-0-1)… That loss also ended the Flames’ franchise-record three-game home winning streak… Goaltender Leland Irving is 2-0-1 (1.62, .948) in three games since the AHL’s holiday break… Anders Eriksson’s first goal as a Flame came in overtime on Friday against Milwaukee and gave Quad City its first-ever overtime victory… Jamie Lundmark has registered a point in three of his last four games (2-3-5)… The Flames host Toronto and Houston this weekend before embarking on a nine-game road swing.

Rochester has matched a season high with a three-game points streak (2-0-0-1), all on the road… The Americans had just one win in their previous 16 games against Manitoba before taking a pair of victories in Winnipeg last weekend… Stefan Meyer shows a point in three of his last four games (2-2-4), and defenseman Cory Murphy has found the scoresheet in both of his games with the Amerks thus far (1-2-3)… All-Star goaltender Mike Brodeur is now 8-3-1 (1.59, .944) since joining the team… Rochester hosts Syracuse and Hamilton this weekend, with a visit to Binghamton in between.

Rockford’s three-game winning streak came to an end with Wednesday’s 6-5 shootout loss at Grand Rapids… Pascal Pelletier netted his second hat trick of the season in the IceHogs’ 6-4 win over Chicago on Saturday… Rob Klinkhammer has netted a goal in four straight games (5-1-6) and has a point in six of his last seven outings (5-3-8)… Jack Skille shows two goals and four points over his last two games… Rockford recently finished 4-3-0-0 in a stretch of playing seven games in nine nights… The IceHogs open a six-game homestand this weekend by welcoming Chicago and Toronto to the MetroCentre.

San Antonio has won four of its last six road games (4-2-0-0) after starting the season 0-10-0-1 away from the AT&T Center… Overall, the Rampage are 12-4-0-0 since the beginning of December… Captain Jeff Hoggan has netted a goal in six straight games (7-0-7) and has a point in seven straight (7-2-9)… David Spina is on a four-game scoring streak (4-3-7) and registered his first career hat trick against Lake Erie on Jan. 1… Joel Perrault shows four assists over his last four games… San Antonio hosts division-leading Milwaukee for a pair of games this weekend.

Tom Sestito has netted the winning goal in each of the last two games for Syracuse, helping the Crunch win consecutive games for the first time since Nov. 15-16… Syracuse has won two straight despite not scoring more than three goals in either contest… Defenseman Aaron Rome has registered a point in four of his last five games (1-5-6), as has Sestito (2-2-4)… Goaltender Dan LaCosta snapped a personal nine-game winless skid (0-8-1) in Tuesday’s 3-1 win at Lake Erie… The Crunch conclude a six-game road swing with games this weekend in Rochester and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Toronto opens a nine-game road swing on Thursday at Milwaukee, a trip that will first take them to every West Division city except Peoria; the Marlies will then play divisional foes Grand Rapids and Syracuse before finally returning to Ricoh Coliseum on Jan. 24… Toronto leading scorer Tim Stapleton (6-27-33) has registered six assists over his last five games… Rookie Stefano Giliati tallied a season-high three points (1-2-3) in the Marlies’ 6-1 win over Philadelphia on Saturday, which marked the team’s second victory by that score in as many nights.